Alabama Homecoming

Barrett and I have a little tradition that he really is clueless about but will hopefully one day appreciate.  We've been going to Alabama's homecoming game together every year since he was 9 months old.  Yes, I'm aware I'm crazy.  I usually have a team of people helping me and it's really not that big of deal taking a kid to the game.  This year my parents had a wedding to go to and we're going to be able to make the trip to Tuscaloosa to help.  I knew we would hang out at my cousins house but I wasn't sure what the parking situation would be.  I was 5 months pregnant and really nervous about attempting this whole thing by myself.  Then it turned out to be 6:00 kickoff so I knew I'd be driving back late and I started to just bail on the whole idea.  I knew Patrick had no interest in going to Tuscaloosa much less the game but I couldn't let this tradition pass.  So I begged him to go.  I assured him he didn't have to go to the game.  He could hang out at my cousins house and watch it on tv.  I really just needed him there for moral support and getting us to and from the car safely.  He reluctantly agreed so we set off mid-morning in hopes of catching the parade and enjoying all the festivities.

We arrived in plenty of time for the parade.  We unloaded the car and a spot opened on the street right by my cousins house.  We were happy about that.  Barrett and I headed to the parade with the group.  Luckily it was just at the end of their street because he was not excited about it at all.  We watched a few floats and the band but he hated the loud engines and noises so we headed back to the house.  Plus all the big boys stayed back and he knew he was missing out. 

They played football and basketball and he was right in the middle of it all. 

The boys were so sweet to let him play.  They would throw him the ball and let him run before they all collapsed in a laughing heap.  It seriously made my heart melt.  He thought he was big stuff.  These are actually my cousins kids.  Number 42 right there started coming to tailgate around Barrett's age to my house while I was in college.  It makes me feel so old seeing him so big.

Before we knew it, it was time to head to the stadium.  All week we'd been talking about going to the football game.  He was so excited.  I'd ask him what he was going to say at the game and he almost always replied "touchdown Auburn", the response I was looking for was "roll tide" but nice try buddy. 

We got there way to early.  Thankfully my cousin Bullet (not his given name) let us use his lower level seats and he and his son took the upper level seats.  I'm not sure either of us would have made it to the top.  He said "touchdown Auburn" about 3 times before the game started.  He didn't really care for the band that much and he got a little startled when everyone would cheer.  But other than that he did great.  He shook his shaker and eventually said "Roll Tide" a lot. 

He got restless right before halftime.  I hated to leave because we were losing but I knew if we didn't leave soon I was going to end up carrying him back to the house and that was not going to be good so we left at halftime. 

He's so funny because in the moment you can't really tell if he's enjoying it or not but the whole next week he told everyone he saw he went to the football game and showed them the pictures on my phone.  It made all the worry and planning and work worth it.  I hope this is a tradition we can continue for years to come.

I couldn't get the picture of the first year to upload.